Nintendo’s announcement of a sequel to the 5th generation of Pokemon shocked me. Like many other Pokemon fans, I expected either a remake of Ruby/Sapphire or a marginally altered third installment in the in the 5th generation (Pokemon Grey). Nintendo’s teaser trailer revealed that neither scenario would be the next games, rather a direct sequel to Black/White. And I’m in love with the idea.

I love the prospect of returning to the different areas in Black/White. The world felt much more organically connected than previous versions, and the developers did not rely on the old standbys to keep players from progressing further than they should (HM”s). I’m excited to see how the world expands and if new areas appear. I’m also looking forward to seeing returning characters and how their stories continue to unfold.

Nintendo’s announcement and teaser presents much more questions than answers. Will the Pokedex expand beyond the 150 5th gen monsters (excluding new legendaries)? What turns will the story take and what characters could be returning? Why the fuck do they call him “N”?

But my biggest question is this:

Why is it such a big deal that it’s for the DS rather than the 3DS?

Seriously, why is this even an issue? It doesn’t even warrant discussion. So I’ll discuss it now.

Who/what is the victim of making this sequel for the DS rather than the successor that is just starting to build up some steam? Making it for the DS means the development cycle is shorter and cheaper, maximizing profits for The Pokemon Company and Nintendo. That’s good for them.

The game can be played on both DS’s and 3DS’s, so it’s good for people who have not been able to purchase a 3DS yet, and backwards compatibility makes it playable on the 3DS. The original game’s graphics hold up well and (aside from the stiff battle animations) looks fine. Everyone gets to play it, so it’s good for players.

So if it’s good for developer, the publisher and the players, who’s it bad for?

The 3DS: a machine that (like many systems) gets personified and treated like an entity that needs care and attention?

Why should we care if Nintendo doesn’t support the system the way we think they should? We get to play the game. That’s all that should matter. Who gives a fuck what system it’s on? You know what would be awesome? A new Dreamcast game. Or a new SNES game.

We focus too much on sales numbers and what developers are doing on what systems and what systems have exclusives. Just play the fucking games you like.

The only reason I think there was any backlash to the announcement that the game would be on the DS is because of the instant reactionary nature of the internet. People can express their excitement or disappointment or frustration or fervor instantly and without the filter of time for rational thinking. We all analyze, scrutinize, speculate and draw conclusions about every bit of enticing news without taking time to think about weather or not it warrants such attention.

The world would be a better place if we all to the same time to scrutinize our own views and really thought about why we have the opinions that we do as the time we spend examining the news. Turn the high-powered microscope on yourself once in a while.

If you're interested in more of my thoughts on Black/White 2 and Pokemon in general, check out my Pokemon Podcast by following the link or by searching for GamersUnanimous on iTunes.

My wife and I had the day off of work today. Aside from some other Valentine's Day related (ahem) activities, I got quite a bit of gaming in.

My day started, as it often does with a little bit of Pokemon. My friend and I are playing through Heart Gold/Soul Silver until we've used every one of the "original" 250 Pokemon at least through the first round against the Elite 4. This time around, we're using Vulpix, Tangela, Seel, Rhyhorn, Venonat and Teddiursa. We're more than halfway through the roster of Pokemon, and you may be asking yourself why we're attempting such a sadistic task. Well, as some of you may know, I host a Nintendo podcast, aptly named the Nintenshow. We like to talk some Pokemon at least once a month in our show, and training new Pokemon every month gives us some fodder to discuss.

I played for about an hour, making my way through the Burned Tower and beating the shit out of Morty. I called it a day right before going into the Lighthouse. I'm liking the way this team is shaping up so far. My only complaint is that my monsters are not learning a lot of moves. Since they evolve late, they need a good move set early to compensate for lagging stats.

The news of a another shipment of Radiant Historia forced me to finally go back to it. I love the game, but I never beat it because it had the unfortunate fate of being released right around the time Pokemon Black and White released, as well as when the 3DS launched. I praised the writing of Radiant Historia when it first came out. The writers masterfully weave together two timelines that could each be their own games, but also depend on each other. The achieved a spectacular balance of storytelling and gameplay. It can be a bit on the chatty side at times - there's some text to read through. But bouncing back and forth between timelines and seeing how each decision unfolds - even wrong decisions - is a lot of fun.

I'm trying to keep plugging away at Rayman Origins before it gets categorized as "backlog". I'm through the halfway point, and I love how the world opens up. I thought I was getting near the end, but then the game was just like "Nope, you're just getting started." It's both awesome and daunting. The platforming charms and infuriates me. Progressing requires precisions and timing that just is not demanded of players in contemporary platformers.

I finished off the day with a game I'd been sitting on for a few hours: Resident Evil Revelations. It may take me a little while to re-adjust to aiming the analogue control. However, I'm not 100% sure that it makes a difference where the enemies get hit this time around. I thought that mapping weapons/item switches to the D Pad may make things too frantic, but muscles memory takes control quickly and I don't even thing about what button I need to press. The game looks fantastic - lighting and particle effects and all of that. There are a lot of points to hit, but I want to get further into the game before I discuss them all.

The major one I do want to talk about briefly is the "horror" elements. I'm not sure if relying on jump scares qualifies a game as "horror", but the increased tension over 4 and 5 is welcome. I have not yet encountered what I was hoping for the most in this game - lateral puzzles. There are rooms locked with specific keys, etc... However, I'm still waiting to see how successfully Capcom implements backtracking and item management. I'm optimistic they'll be able to revive the old-school puzzles. I just got to the part where Jill finds her weapons after waking up in the bedroom. I'm not too far yet. I'll keep plugging away at it tomorrow.

That's what I've been playing today. I'd call that a full, rich day. But before it's over, I think I'll put some more time into Radiant Historia.

I find that the earlier I wake up, the less I get done. I don’t limit that statement to instances when I have to wake at the lowest point of the ass crack of dawn (practically the taint) to get work. I’m also referring to the days after I have to wake up early for work – when my body just naturally gets going at 7 a.m. despite my mind’s better judgment.

Perhaps the scarcity of time or lack thereof, inhibits my motivation to get anything done. I have several piles of leaves in my front lawn suffocating the grass, just like the abundance of time suffocates my activity. I generally start my early day by doing nothing. I sit on the couch with the dog and watch something on Netflix Watch Instantly that I’ve seen a million times before. Probably Futurama. Sometimes I’ll play a DS or 3DS game during a couple of episodes. I’ll shower, go back to the couch and fall back to sleep. When I wake up, I’ll play a game on my Wii or PS3 for a bit. By mid-afternoon, I’ve lost all drive to get anything of value done.

However, working within time constraints of waking up around 10 or 11, I can get so many more chores done.

Anyway, I’ve been playing a lot of Fire Emblem lately. That series hits every strategy-RPG note pitch-perfectly. I cannot bear to let a single character die or even go unrecruited. The savage completionist in me, the guy that fills up the entire pokedex, won’t allow it.

The one upside of working early is that a couple of my coworkers (who also work early) have 3DS’s, so we get to Street Pass quite a bit. Of course, that only feeds my irrational urge to collect. Only, it’s worse, because instead of instead of collecting soldiers or monsters that are only of minor importance to the game, Street Passing allows me to collect puzzle pieces and hats that are of absolutely no importance. It would be awesome if my Mii could wear a Samus helmet while racing in Mario Kart 7. Maybe he can. I haven’t gotten to MK7 yet.

Since I’ve argued the insubstantiality of puzzle pieces and hats (which I will still collect), I guess the only real advantage of working extremely in the day is that I get to drive in to work with my wife and we get to spend the afternoon hours together. We spotted a crude piece of Kirby graffiti on the way home from work today. I’ll try to snap a picture of it the next time we cut through downtown instead of taking the highway because of the City of Orlando’s lack of foresight about the need of a bypass highway.

It’s going to be cold in Orlando the next few days, then the temperature will rise back up to a balmy 76 degrees. Before everyone who actually has to suffer through an actual winter curses my geographic region, I should post a scan of my electric bill during the summer months. Fucking central air conditioning. Can’t live without it.

A bunch of people have posted their game collections recently, and I wanted to chime in. I think I'll do it in installments though. Starting off, here is every DS game that I own except for one. The only one not pictured is the Metroid Prime Demo that came with the DS phat.

The DS has one of the best libraries of any system ever made. It's my second favorite system of all time - second only to the SNES.

The DS had one last fantastic run of great software this past fall. Kirby and Professor Layton showed up for the DS’s going away party, as did Red in the unique Solatorobo. One of the games that received quite a bit of praise is Aliens Infestation. WayForward’s take on the Aliens is a solid sidescrolling action game and also the major reason why I think they should make the next handheld Metroid game.

WayForward could get it made

It is a travesty that the DS did not get a real Metroid adventure. Prime Hunters was made to show off the wifi capabilities of the DS and the single player mode was just an afterthought. The 3DS needs a traditional Metroid with a stronger focus on single player. And WayForward is just developer to handle it.

WayForward’s art and animation teams have mastered making 2D sprite look and move phenomenally. The Aliens and Marines have nice detail and move fluidly. The different size aliens move and behave differently, from the tiny face-sucking aliens of the enormous queens. With a higher resolution, Aliens Infestation would make a nice looking downloadable console game. WayForward is more than capable of making a nice looking 2D Metroid game.

Aliens Infestation requires players to explore different areas – usually one large ship – to find new tools and weapons that allow players to open up new doors and reach new areas. The marines use a variety of weapons from assault rifles and shotguns to flamethrowers (my personal favorite) and grenades. They find a bunch of different tools like welding torches and wrenches and flashlights that open different doors and paths. Sound familiar? It’s one of the critical features of exploration in Metroid games. WayForward wove together an environment the opens up quite well when more tools and weapons are found. It’s fun to explore the new areas when they’re unlocked and backtrack through old areas and discover all the secrets.

The scope of the environment is pretty limited in Aliens Infestation. It’s basically just sci-fi spaceship interiors. But one thing that WayForward did well within those environments is create a great atmosphere. The tension and hostility while just walking down a hall are palpable. Aliens jump out of nowhere and take quite a bit of bullets to take down. WayForward captured the atmosphere and industrial-sci-fi aesthetic of the franchise perfectly.

It is their ability to adapt to the ambiance of a particular franchise that makes WayForward the ideal studio to outsource franchises to. They did great work in capturing the frantic pace and pattern-recognition bosses in Contra 4. The complex puzzle environments and whimsical feel of A Boy and His Blob made it one of the most memorable and heartwarming experience on the Wii. That, coupled with WayForward’s expertise of 2D games, make them the model studio to take on a handheld Metroid game.

Aliens Infestation is a nice addition to the DS library. It’s a fun sidescrolling action game in the vein of Castlevania or Metroid Fusion, and at just $20, it’s definitely worth picking up.